Helping or Hurting the Farmer?

Module 1 Lesson 3 Assignment 2

Helping or Hurting the Farmer?

Module 1 Lesson 3 Assignment 2

Homestead Act

This hurt the everyday farmer because as more settlers moved out West more farmers/farms were in the West. It was almost the default job for new settlers, causing a decline in the Market. Crops became plentiful and the value dropped because of it.

Transcontinental Railroad

This was an overall help to the farmers. It made shipping to the East easier. It was efficient, especially because it went directly from the West to the East, making it the fastest way to ship something at the time.

High Railroad Shipping Costs

This hurt the farmers... badly. The most effective way to ship their produce cost them an arm and a leg, slimming already razor thin profits. The pricing of railroad shipping was considered a, "Cheap-Shot," by the farmers at the time. There was nothing you could ship without a ridiculous price tag attached.

Farmers Alliances and Granges

This was a help to the farmers as well. The Granges allowed farmers to come together to pool their money so they could get new machinery or other farming necessities. This also managed to almost unify the farmers.

Pictures are of the logos for the Farmers Association, a Grange, and Farmers of the time. The P of H on the Grange logo stands for Patrons of Husbandry.

The Populist Movement

This was a huge help to the farmers. The Populists were a political party whose ideas heavily supported the farmers. Between a graduated income tax and bimetallism, it was clear the Populist Party was there for the everyday farmers.

Bimetallism

This was a help to farmers. Bimetallism was the widespread belief that through purposefully inflating the economy, the value of crops would rise as well. The proposed way to inflate the economy was through free coinage of silver.

Interstate Commerce Commision

This was a help to the farmers. The ICC worked to limit and regulate pricing on railroads. This helped farmers because they no longer needed to worry about being over-charged for shipping goods to the East. The ICC was formed on February 4, 1887 and was dissolved on January 1, 1996.